Making Solid Decisions

At Elect or Not we are dedicated to making our own choices for the better. We prefer making our own choices and not allowing other influences to make choices for us. When I was younger I grew up in a very strict religious background. I wasn’t allowed to do anything without asking my parents and “Gods” permission. My whole childhood and early teenage years I was always told what to do and didn’t get out very much.

My father pretty much had owned every aspect of me. He always made me feel bad if I didn’t pray to God every night, made me go to church, and read the bible scriptures at least every day for fifteen minutes. It was awful. When I turned eighteen he made me get a part time job at KFC. It was awful and I hated every minute of it. I wanted to quit by my father wouldn’t allow me to. He said if I wanted to keep my car, I would have to serve people fast food.

I was pretty miserable growing up. I absolutely had no freedom in my decisions. Even when I turned eighteen my life was all planned out for my parents and “God.” They decided what college I would go to and that I would study to be a Pastor.

Enough was enough. It wasn’t until I was twenty five that I decided I would take a leap of faith and leave my parents. I moved out of the house and in with my older brother who honestly didn’t believe in “God” and that everyone should have free will. It was the best decision I ever made. My parents weren’t thrilled when I told them I dropped out of Christian academy and decided instead to go to school for web design. They tried to threaten me and use guilt but I stood my ground.

At thirty I am now married to the most beautiful and amazing woman, two children, and a lovely chicken coop we built in the backyard. I am happily raising a Chicken farm and I got amazing advice on how to build a chicken coop. My wife and I both discovered we loved chickens and even though my parents aren’t speaking to me today because of my life style, I still chose to live like this.

I know what its like to live with parents who don’t support your own lifestyle. But there is a lesson here. As adults, we are free to live as we want. We are free to make the choices that we believe will benefit our lives for the better. It took a lot of courage and with some support I managed to break free from my overbearing parents.

My wife also came from a family of Jewish people. She said if she did not secretly study chicken coop ideas, she probably wouldn’t be able to get free from her overbearing family. She chose not to be a doctor even though everyone in her family wanted her to be. She knew that was not the life for her and now that she bravely stepped out and made her own choice, she is now happily married with two kids and raising a chicken coop farm.

We’re all about decision science here at Elect Or Not. Do we elect to stay put, or elect to be nomads? Personally, I can never stand to stay put in the same place for too terribly long. As my granddad often said, a rolling stone gathers no moss. Who wants moss all over their body? That’s just nasty.

Kidding aside, I am something of a rover. I feel incredibly privileged to have the luxury of affording this lifestyle. Over the years I’ve lived in several continents, a dozen countries, and countless towns. I prefer small towns, detesting the urban sprawl that plagues many urban locations. Honestly, nothing drives me madder than poor city planning and gridlocked traffic.

Unfortunately, my son has recently taken ill and I’ve taken it upon myself to look after him. This means relocating to his dreadful suburban town. Once again I find myself packing up boxes and hitting the road. After a while, you get this routine down to a science.

First of all, if you want to be a man on the move like myself, get used to placing lots of items in storage containers. I’m not referring to bins and boxes. I mean the little warehouses that you rent to keep your larger belongings under lock and key. U-Haul is a popular company that provides this service, and with a bit of digging you can find some Uhaul coupons to keep the costs down.

Secondly, you must detach yourself from everything. Places, landmarks, shops, habits, even people. Attaching yourself to things makes you vulnerable, and it also keeps you grounded. For many people this is a very healthy and positive thing. It doesn’t suit me. However, I will forever have a deep attachment to my son, so of course I’m throwing out all the rules when it comes to his well-being.

That’s why this decision couldn’t be simpler. Of course I elect to settle down (for a little while at least) and spend some quality time with my family.

That’s not to say that I won’t go on any adventures. You can take the lion out of the jungle, but you can never take the jungle out of the lion. I’ll always be a journeyman at heart. I simply can’t elect not to be.

And when I have adventures of note, dear reader, you’ll be the first to hear of them.